Daniel Musyoka Mutinda is a tall, slender, and stylish man. His demeanor is reserved and contemplative, and he appears to be a scholar, even down to his reading spectacles. He holds degrees in law from the University of Dar es Salaam and history, political science, and economics from Syracuse University in New York, so that is not for nothing. Despite being the newest member of the Cabinet in 1974, he was far more senior than his peers.
Mutinda is a familiar presence in the courts because he owns and operates the Kitui and Machakos law practice, Mutinda and Company Advocates. He has four children and is married. On November 25, 1942, Mutinda was born in Katungulu village, a few kilometers from Kitui town, to David Mutinda Kambi and Martha Mutinda. At the age of four, he lost his mother, and a stepmother raised him.
In addition to being a well-known educator, his father was a pastor of the Africa Inland Church (AIC). After he resigned from teaching, Mutinda Senior entered the Church ministry. The second-born child of a polygamous household with six brothers and sisters, Mutinda declared, “My father is still alive and will be 100 years old soon.” John Kimanzi Mutinda, a former Kitui Central MP and Assistant Minister, is his elder brother.
1952 saw Mutinda enroll at Ithookwe Primary School, and in 1958 he transferred to Government African School, Kitui. The late Michael Ngilu, the husband of Kitui Central MP and Water Minister Charity Ngilu, former National Assembly Clerk Japheth Masya, and businessman Roy Mutisya were among his students at what is now Kitui School.
Following his time at Kitui School, Mutinda enrolled at Uganda’s Chwa II Memorial College, where he became involved in political action that would later influence his professional life. “I went to a political gathering that was held close to Makerere University, where John Kakonge, a politician against colonialism in Uganda, spoke. Regarding his time in Uganda, he remarks, “He was one of the first politicians I saw on the platform who influenced my thinking.”
Later, Mutinda was awarded a scholarship by Syracuse University’s International Institute of Education, where he studied economics, political science, and history from 1965 to 1968. He enrolled at the University of Dar es Salaam to pursue a legal degree after returning home. Chief Justice Dr. Willy Mutunga, Judge Emmanuel O’Kubasu of the Court of Appeal, Senior Counsel Gibson Kamau Kuria, Chairman of the Pan African Insurance Company John Simba, and Justice Mathew Amukule were among his classmates in Dar es Salaam.
Mutinda attended the Kenya School of Law after leaving Dar es Salaam, and in March 1973, she was admitted to the bar. After completing his student years at the esteemed Stratton and Kaplan legal practice, he joined Kivuitu and Company Advocates. Fresh out of Dar es Salaam University, the soft-spoken Mutinda ran against independence hero Eliud Ngala Mwendwa in Kitui Central during the 1974 elections. Goliath, who had been MP since 1961, was defeated by David. Mwendwa had been in charge of Kitui politics since before independence. Mutinda easily defeated his opponents.
Kenyatta appointed him Minister for Information and Broadcasting. In January, 1978, he was transferred to the new Ministry of Power and Communications, serving there until October the same year, when he returned to Information and Communications until March, 1980.
Few people now would recognize the guy who, at the age of 31, terminated the illustrious career of one of Kenya’s most powerful politicians and went on to become the country’s youngest Cabinet Minister.
